Philadelphia man pleads guilty to Lower Merion burglary

COURTHOUSE — A Philadelphia man was sentenced to two to four years in Graterford prison Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to stealing over $230,000 in jewelry from a home in Bala Cynwyd in January of 2012.

Tiron Sampson, 29 of the 2400 block of 74th Street, Philadelphia, was also ordered to pay the victim restitution in the amount of $159,880.25 once released from prison.

According to court documents, on Jan. 5, 2012, Lower Merion police officers responded to the 500 block of Cambridge Road at 7:12 p.m. after a security alarm was triggered. The complainant told police he heard an audible alarm and, looking outside of his window, saw three males standing in his neighbor’s driveway who he thought were trying to steal the 2011 Bentley Continental parked there. The complainant told police the males left the area in a green jeep at a high rate of speed.

Police then checked the home and determined it had been burglarized. Along with the stolen jewelry, police learned that $2,000 in cash was also taken from the home.

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During the investigation police learned the home had a surveillance camera on the outside. Police obtained the footage but were unable to determine who the three men were. Sampson was the only suspect who was not wearing a ski-mask in the footage, though police were unable to determine who he was at the time.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, on March 15, 2012, a Lower Merion detective met with a Philadelphia detective who viewed the surveillance footage and was able to determine the suspect without a ski-mask was Sampson. The Philadelphia detective told Lower Merion police Sampson had been arrested on Jan. 11, 2012, for a burglary and robbery in the Philadelphia area. The detective also told Lower Merion police Sampson was a suspect in a number of similar incidents.